I am such a geek for noticing these things. Anyway, earlier this year we had an allergy subplot on Grey's Anatomy, and now there is apparently some allergy drama on Big Brother. I don't generally watch it religiously---I watch the first few so I know who everyone is, then read the summaries on-line (for those who are not familiar with the show, they basically lock a bunch of people in a house together, boot one off every week and last one standing wins. There are live internet feeds where you can spy on the players in between episodes).

Anyway, courtesy of last night's live feed daily summary, apparently two of the players were removed to hospital due to food issues. I am very curious to see how they show this on air, it at all. Apparently, there was a food competition and some of the players were put on 'slop' which is a punishment for food competition losers, it is from the little I understand a mixture of oatmeal, protein powder and some other stuff. The next day, one of them fainted and went into seizure, Meanwhile, another one was in the process of receiving treatment from a medic for general ill-feeling, and when the other girl got sick, they hauled them both off to hospital. The girl who fainted, they think she had complications from hypoglycemia, and the other girl apparently had a full-on anaphylactic episode, throat closing up, face swelling and everything. She came back with a cocktail of asthma medications and an epi-pen, which she gave a tutorial to the other players on how to use. Both of them are off the slop pending further medical treatment and evaluation. and the girls, bitter in-game enemies prior, ave apparently bonded over their near-death experiences.

I know this is a completely ridiculous television show and all of the players involved tend to be on the vapid side and generally deserving of the making fun the internet fans do, but I ave to admit, it bugs me a little to see the internet viewers making fun of the girl who had the allergy problem. I have seen commentary on the events of the last day or so where people accuse her of faking it and/or milking it to get sympathy in the game, where people suggest stabbing her to death with the epi-pen if she annoys them, and calling her "Allergison" (her name is Allison) as a mocking nickname. I am not saying she is necessarily a person who is above teasing, especially in a contrived and completely stupid situation such as a tv game show. And I am not saying she is above milking it either, from the little I've seen of her But a life-threatening allergy is no joke, is not her fault, is probably a horrifying thing to go through on live internet feed, and imho the "Allergison" and death-by-allergy plotting is a little much

I don't actually read a lot of online stuff besides allergy forums and the news, but I did happen across some kind of "stargazing" website last week and was quite amazed at the comments that people posted to go with some shots of some relatively minor actress. The vitriol that people were spewing about this actress was kind of scary. They don't know her... but they obviously felt like they had the right to slag her with really nasty, over-the-top comments and insults.

All that to say: there are some really nasty people out there with too much time on their hands and not enough kindness in their hearts, and I find it sad.

I'm nonetheless fascinated by how allergy is portrayed in TV, films.
Keep us posted, Ficbot.

Re the vitriol - It's interesting when you work in journalism (and probably the same if you're a blogger). People will write you e-mails criticizing something you've published, often in a gratuitously harsh fashion. What's interesting is that when you write back in an even manner, addressing whatever issue they had, about 85 per cent of the time, they'll write back, embarrassed about the first note and suggesting that they now see your point, and whoops didn't mean to sound so harsh.

I wonder if some people just shoot off e-mails and posts in a state of immediate negative reaction – without ever considering that other humans (the ones they're attacking) actually read such. Then when confronted by the fact they do, there's a big climb down.

I'm not saying everybody - there certainly are jerks or those who'll hate your views (or your allergies) 'just because' - but a lot of the time there seems to be a detachment from the fact that they're not just screaming into the ether.

I am very curious to see if they air this or not, and although I am finding the show a little tiresome this year, I will keep an eye on live feed reports to see what happens with it.

Gwen, I too am always very interested to see these things play out in the media. I was watching a dvd of the show Bones the other day, and my drug allergy got a mention as a plot point. It's a fairly obscure one and most doctors I've met have been very interested when they hear I have it. So to see my fav tv doctors talking about it was a real kick for me, especially because I could actually follow the science stuff this time

I'm impressed when I see children's shows treat food allergies seriously but matter of factly.
I was watching Fun Food Frenzy with my daughter this evening and at one point the father figure simply states, "Don't eat a new food without checking with your parents first, you might be allergic.".
My daughter gave me the knowing look, she'd never do such a thing.

Update: they showed both of them on tonight's episode. The allergic reaction, she was running outside and started breathing really hard, immediately went into the house and pressed the button to be allowed into the 'diary room' where they can talk to the producers. She asked if anyone was there, said she needed help, and we heard (but did not see" a nurse come in. She said she needed an epi-pen, was familiar with the terminology etc. so maybe it was not a first reaction, they didn't say.

Meanwhile, the other girl was outside, said she wasn't feeling well, needed sugar etc. and then passed out. There was some activity while they tried to help her, then the nurse came out, treated her on-site and then summoned a bunch of paramedics. There was one moment where the nurse says very calmly to one of the paramedics "I was shooting that one over there when this one went down" and I admit, that made me chuckle a little

There was some follow-up chat among the other players along the lines of 'wow, that was intense and now I am sorry I was so mean to her' kind of thing

ETA: There was a competition just before the medical crisis which involved large quantities of peanuts. Many of the message board posts I have seen since the episode wonder if the producers 'knew that Allison was allergic to peanuts.' They never explained what her reaction was caused by, and as far as I know from the live feeds, they are still running tests on this girl to find out what happened. Interesting though that all the viewers see 'peanuts' and 'allergic reaction' in the same episode and immediately assume that's what the problem was The one thing I don't get is, Allison seemed to know immediately that she was having an allergic reaction and asked for an epi-pen as soon as she got a nurse in there with her. So it seems likely she has a history of being allergic to something...[/i]

I thought what was a little peculiar was the fact that the nurse actually asked her if she wanted to use the epipen or not...if she was as swollen as they say she was (and it seemed pretty clear by the sound of her voice that her tongue, etc was swollen)...I found it odd that she would ask her what she wanted to do instead of making a decision as the qualified person to give medical attention?
Perhaps the reason Allison knew about the epipen was due to the fact that she is a pharmaceutical rep...maybe she deals with them?...just a thought...
If anyone wants to watch the clip, it is on youtube...just type in BB9 episode 7 (there are 4 parts listed, it occurs in part 3)
Ang

_________________6 1/2 year old son - anaphylactic to tree nuts, allergic to dust and moulds
5 1/2 year old son - no allergies
15 month old son...allergies unknown

Yes Ang, I was thinking the same thing...she's a Pharm Rep, she may have some knowledge of allergies, and EpiPen. I'm releived though that she asked for the EpiPen right away, because the nurse seemed ambivilant. Very apparent though by the sound of her voice that she had developed alot of swelling, no pictures were needed for that!

It would be nice if some form of awareness could come from this. How often do you see (or hear) and have on film an actual rection. I think it really drives the point home, of how potentially fast and life-threatening this can be. Also, how easy just to have that EpiPen(or Twinject) on hand and use it in a timely manner.

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